From schools to shopping, Nora sees improvements and changes

INDIANAPOLIS — If you drive through Nora on Indy’s north side, you’ll find a lot of construction.

North Central High School is getting a huge renovation and Nora Plaza has a fresh look, along with new businesses.

“Over the past, ya know, year it’s really been ramping up,” said Eddie Sahm of Sahms Hospitality Group. Their restaurant Big Lug is set right alongside the Monon in Nora.

Sahm sees Nora as a transition between cities on the north side of Indy.

”Nora has always been a small town with a lot of people,” Sahm said. “It’s kind of like the entrance into Carmel or the entrance into Indy depending on which way you’re going.”

Now, Big Lug Canteen, which was established in 2015, is seeing a lot of new neighbors.

West Elm opened this year in the Nora Plaza and will soon get a new neighbor, itself. Culinary Dropout is a restaurant new to the Midwest. It’s under construction right now in the Nora Plaza.

“I do hope it opens people’s eyes to Nora,” Sahm said. “It can be a fun spot to own a business and there are a lot of people up here who are interested in new things.”

Even more development could be on the horizon. According to the Nora Alliance, the Winterton Office Center near Nora Plaza was just bought by a local developer. That developer is in the process of a plan for a potential mixed-use development on the land.

Just down the street, North Central High School is in the middle of some major renovations.

Many of the shops in the Nora Plaza have also gotten a facelift after Kite Realty acquired the plaza in 2022.

Bob Weaver with the Nora Alliance said he sees Nora as a balance of the past and future.

”These are places our parents might have gone to and now we’re taking our kids to them,” he said. “I think people appreciate that mix of old and new, big and small.”

Nora has been home to some local businesses for decades like Bagel Fair and Goodman Shoes.

FOX59/CBS4 reported in 2022 about local businesses having to move as rent increased in the community. Global Gifts at Nora had to move to a different location in the area.

Goodman’s Shoes also relocated. The store had lone been in the Nora Plaza, where West Elm is now, but moved just down 86th Street across from the Goodwill in recent years.

Sahm said these local businesses are important to the future of the Nora community.

“I hope Nora stays like that,” Sahm said. “That it doesn’t get too far out from local, independent places people like.”

As the changes continue, Sahm said he hopes people continue to learn Nora isn’t just a neighborhood.

“I think we’re just now touching on what it’s going to be,” Sahm said.